Locking device for lasts.



E. L. KEYES.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR LASTS.

APPLICATION-FILED 1330.20. 1906.

Patented Oct; 20, 1908.-

WITNESSES.

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i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE L. KEYES, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR LAS'IS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 20, 1908.

Application filed December 20, 1906. Serial No. 348,743.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE L. KEYEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, inthe county of Suffolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Looking Devices for Lasts, of which the following descriptiomin connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to locking deviccs designed to hold in fixed position, relative to each other, the members of a multipart last. These lasts, which are constructed for ready withdrawal from the shoe without subjecting the latter to undue strain, comprise usually two or more relatively movable members. In a common type of these lasts, the heel part is constructed to move relatively to'the forepart, as by being hinged thereto, the movement in one direction being limited to prevent movement beyond the normal extended position of the last. In this type of lasts a portion of the last is cut away between the parts to permit the relative movementof the parts, and in this cut-away portion is usually provided some means for locking the members against movement after the last has been inserted in the shoe, especially during the operation of lasting the u per.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an efficient locking means for multipart lasts, which will insure the lasts being held rigid and which will accommodate itself to many different sizes and styles of lasts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a durable and efficient locking means which does not form an essential part of the last, which does not require to be manufactured with the last, nor for a particular last, and which, therefore, does not wear out with the last. Such a construction brings about a considerable saving in the cost of lasts, as a very simple multipart last used with this locking means is fully as efficient as the more complex lasts equipped with elaborate locking devices built into them.

A further "object of the invention is to provide a locking device which will not only ac-' commodate itself to varying sizes and styles of lasts, but will also take up any looseness provide a locking device which is separate 5 '7 from the last but which may be readily inserted in looking position between the parts of the last and which, when so inserted, can not be easily jarred loose.

Inthe illustrated embodiment of the invention a locking device is shown comprising two relatively movable members, having engaging surfaces extending when in operative position substantially parallel to and adapted to engage respective opposing surfaces upon the parts of a two-part last, and force the parts into their extreme extended positions, and means is shown for producing a relative engaging movement of the members and for holding the members in engagement with the last parts. The engaging surfaces of the members of the locking device are preferably provided with means to prevent slipping, as corrugations at right angles to each other, and one of the members is preferably constructed to slide within the other, the device being thereby rendered more compact. The corrugations also afford a plurality of separate engaging points for the engaging surfaces.

In the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates the invention as used with an ordinary two-part last; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the locking device; and Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing a slight modification.

The last shown in Fig. 1 comprises a forepart 2 and a heel part 4:, said parts being hinged together at 6. When the last is in its normal extended osition, as shown in Fig. l, the opposing aces of the two parts recede from each other above the hinge, while below the hinge the opposing faces contact as at 8 to form stop surfaces. The receding of the surfaces above the hinge permits the heel part of the last to be moved relatively to the forepart in withdrawing the last from the shoe. To maintain the last in its normal extended position, a locking device is provided above the hinge which acts to force into, and hold in, contact the stop surfaces below the hinge. Said locking device comprises preferably a member 10, the end surfaces of which are inclined to each other at approximately the same angle as the receding surfaces above the hinge of the last, the said member 10 having a longitudinal central opening, or bore, extending through it as shown in Fig. 2 or partially through it, as shown in Fig. 3, within which opening is arranged to slide a second member 12. The member 12 is retained in member 10 with provision for limited relative longitudinal movement by means of a pin 1&- passing through the member 10 and resting in an elongated slot 16 in the upper part of member 12. The outer end of the member 12, which end has an inclination corresponding to the inclination of the adjacent end of member 10, lies just within the end of member 10 when the member 12 is in its innermost position. The outer end of member 12 and the opposite end of member 10 have anti-slipping surfaces, formed, in the construction shown, by relatively sharp, crossed corrugations. The inner end of member 12 engages the eccentric portion 18 of a pin mounted in concentric openings 20 and 22 of member 10. The pin is preferably so positioned that its will be vertical when the locking device is in operative position in the last. The pin may be rotatably held in member 10 in any suitable way, as by upsetting its lower end, the lower side of opening 22 being shown as slightly countersunk for this purpose. The upper end of the pin provided with a handle at by which it may be turned, such turning causing, through the eccentric'portion 18, the movement of member 12 relatively to member 10. In Figs. 2 and 3 the upper concentric opening 20 is shown as considerably larger than the lower opening, having a radius equal to the radius of the circular path of the outer surface of the eccentric portion 18, and in Fig. 2 the upper portion of the pin is shown as enlarged to completely fill this opening, the enlargement being concentric with the axis of rotation of the pin, while in Fig. 3 the eccentric portion 18 is shown as extending through the upper opening.

The operation of the locking device above described is as follows: The last being in extended position, as shown in Fig. 1, the locking device with the member 12 in its innermost position is inserted into the vshaped opening formed by the receding surfaces above the hinge 6, being pushed down toward the hinge until the end surfaces of the member 10 engage, snugly the corresponding receding surfaces of the last members. The handle 24 is then turned and the outer end of member 12 is forced out of member 10 into engagement with the adjacent surface of one of the last members, the pin being preferably turned until the reaction of the member 12 thereon can cause no tendency of the pin to. turn out of looking position,in other words until the member 12 is on a dead center of the pin.

This acts to force the opposite end of mem-' ber 10 into closer engagement with the ad jacent surface of the other last member, and to forcethe stop surfaces below the hinge tightly together. The locking device is then allowed to remain in this position until is again desired to move the last parts relatively to each other. This locking device, having comparatit'ely extensive engaging surfaces, constructed to prevent slipping, is not easily jarred loose when placed in locking position, the eccentric portion 18 of the pin maintaining the members 10 and 12 in whatever relative position they are placed.

It will be noted that the position of the pin and its handle 2st is such as to afford easy accessv to the handle for locking and unlocking when the device is in operativeposition in the last. It is obvious that the pin and handle might be placed in other positions relative to the members of the locking device if found desirable to do so.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 2 1. The combination with a hinged multipart last, having a V-shaped recess upon one side of the hinge, of a locking device inserted in the recess and having roughened gripping surfaces of substantially the same relative inclination as the sides of the recess, said locking device being adapted to be held in the recess by the gripping action of the roughened surfaces upon the sides of the recess.

2. The combination with a hinged multipart last having a V-shaped recess on one side of the hinge, of a locking device inserted in the recess and comprising members movable relatively to expand said device to en gage the sides of said recess and extend said last, said device presenting roughened engaging surfaces having substantially the same relative inclination as the sides of the recess.

3. The combination with a hinged twopart last, having a recess between the parts upon one side of the hinge, of means for holding said parts in fixed position relative to each other, comprising relatively movable members provided with oppositely facing engaging surfaces extending substantially parallel to and adapted to engage opposing faces of the last parts respectively within said recess, and means for causing a relative movement of said members into operative engagement with said last parts.

4. In a locking device for a hinged multipart last having a recess on one side of the hinge, the combination with a member hav- 2 ing at one end an engaging surface extending when in operative position substantially parallel to one side of the recess between the last parts, of a second member having at one end an engaging surface bearing a similar relation to the other side of said recess, and means for simultaneously locking said members in engagement with the respective sides of said recess.

5. The combination with a hinged twopart last, having a V-shaped recess between the parts, of a locking device for holding the last parts in extended position comprising a member having at one end an engaging surface extending When in operative position substantially parallel to one side of the recess between the last parts, a second member having at one end an engaging surface bearing a similar relation to the other side of said recess, and means for simultaneously locking 15 

